<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Will You Stay with Me? by ghostly_words</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22375558">Will You Stay with Me?</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/ghostly_words/pseuds/ghostly_words'>ghostly_words</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Final Fantasy XV</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, just some soft early morning love, some much needed gentleness for ardyn</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-01-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-01-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-04-28 14:21:27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>827</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22375558</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/ghostly_words/pseuds/ghostly_words</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Kayden wakes in the early morning, and with her lover in pain, does what she can to comfort him.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Ardyn Inzunia/Kayden Undāre (OFC), Ardyn Izunia/Original Female Character(s)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Will You Stay with Me?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>She awoke to the heavy darkness, her thoughts muddled from sleep, confused about what had roused her. The room came into focus as her mind cleared, the warmth from the man beside her filled with the promise of comfort and safety.</p><p>A muffled sound of pain from her left, and she rolled over to see his face twisted by the pain of the nightmares tormenting him. Sorrow filled her, but she ignored it in favor of brushing his hair away from his face. With a feather-light touch, she gently brushed her hand over his keep, and her heart ached when he flinched. Wrapping her arms around him to pull him close as she shifted, rolling onto her back so that his head lay over heart.</p><p>Perhaps he might hear the steady rhythm, she had hopes that it might bring some sense of peace even amongst the torment in his mind.</p><p>His hands instinctively found her arm and hip, and even in his sleep he held her close, his grip almost bordering on painful, as if she would disappear if he loosened his hold. But never once had he hurt her, not even in such moments as these, when he was lost to memories of betrayal and held onto her like she was his lifeline. Watching him for a moment, she closed her eyes, humming a lullaby in the hopes that it might help soothe his pain.</p><p>Carding her fingers through his maroon hair as she continued humming, she nearly missed the moment he awoke.</p><p>When she stopped humming, and the quiet reigned for a few moments, did she notice that his breathing had slowed, though it remained ragged, and his hold on her remained the same.</p><p>“I’m here love.” She spoke in a hushed voice filled with a gentle love, and she heard the sharp inhale before he slowly breathed out, shuddering with emotion in her arms.</p><p>A lingering kiss to her shoulder before he lifted his head, amber eyes meeting teal ones, a thousand unspoken words shared in the moment. Echoes of pain and of the things that were haunting him could be seen in his eyes, his armor and disguise cracked and slowly falling away. It was not common, the moments when he let her brush away his armor, leaving him bare and vulnerable. How he had come to trust her, how they had grown into a partnership, it still surprised her, but she counted herself blessed for it.</p><p>Tangling her fingers in his hair, she gently led him to rest his forehead against hers before placing one of his hands on her chest. She didn’t need to speak, having coached him back to breathing steadily on similar nights.</p><p>“Would you sing for me?” he spoke quietly, voice ragged from the pain and something she hadn’t heard before, as if there was an unspoken plead for mercy in his words.</p><p>Kissing his forehead, she nodded, twirling his hair between her fingers like she always did whenever he had a stressful day. “Of course, I enjoy doing so.” A brief, but genuine smile crossed his face, and he lowered himself gently, kissing her clavicle and resting his forehead on her chest. Waiting for him to settle, she smiled and began to hum, finding the right tune before singing one of his favorite songs.</p><p>Her hands never once faltered as she sung, low and quiet so as to not break quiet morning with too much noise. She felt the gentle touches against her hip and shoulder, the occasional harsh grip when a memory caused him to tremble and hold onto her to keep himself from slipping away.</p><p>The pale, cold, morning light slowly slipped through the curtains, illuminating the room in a slow glow as the final note of the song greeted the dawn.</p><p>Sitting upright, he gently urged her to follow, pulling her into his lap and hiding his face in her hair as he breathed deeply and quietly focused on grounding himself to the present.</p><p>Listening to his heartbeat slow and enter a steady rhythm, she drew patterns over his back and gently kissed his chest. How much time passed them by was of no importance, not when they found safety and comfort in each other, warmth against the persistent chill of Niflheim.</p><p>His hand moving from her hair to cup her cheek brushed away the last clinging remnants of sleep. Looking up to meet his gaze, she smiled softly and gently kissed the tip of his nose. Satisfied by bringing a smile to his lips, she felt the last remaining tension leave him.</p><p>Returning the favor and kissing her nose, he hummed quietly. “Will you stay with me?” The words unspoken could be felt in the air, but he didn’t have the heart to say them out loud.</p><p>Pulling him close and pressing a lingering kiss to his jaw, she spoke softly, but with a determined conviction that rivaled that of a shield. “Always.”</p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>